{{short description|American politician (1796–1837)}} {{for|his son, the businessman and folk figure|Joseph Alexander Mabry II}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2026}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Joseph Alexander Mabry | image = | alt = | caption = | state_house = Tennessee | district = Knox County | term_start = 1835 | term_end = 1837 | alongside = | predecessor = | successor = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|1796|3|19}} | birth_place = Westmoreland County, Virginia, U.S. | death_date = {{death date and age|1837|4|19|1796|3|19}} | death_place = Tuscaloosa, Alabama, U.S. | death_cause = Stabbing | resting_place = | party = | spouse = Alice | children = 5, including Joseph | education = | occupation = {{hlist|Politician|farmer|militiaman}} | signature = }}
'''Joseph Alexander Mabry''' (March 19, 1796 – April 19, 1837) was an American politician from Tennessee. He served two terms in the Tennessee House of Representatives.
==Early life== Joseph Alexander Mabry was born on March 19, 1796, in Westmoreland County, Virginia. One of his ancestors was Robert de Mowbray. At a young age, he moved with his family to Tennessee and settled in Knox County, Tennessee.<ref name="tn">{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/historyoftenness01good_0/page/1000/mode/2up |title=History of Tennessee |publisher=The Goodspeed Publishing Company |year=1887 |page=1001 |via=Archive.org |access-date=2026-01-25}}{{Open access}}</ref><ref name="south">{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/south0000unse_r9c7/page/436/mode/2up |title=Crime & Justice in American History: The South, Part 2 |editor-last=Monkkonen |editor-first=Eric H. |year=1992 |pages=436–437 |via=Archive.org |access-date=2026-01-25}}{{Open access}}</ref>
==Career== Mabry served in the 1834 Tennessee constitutional convention.<ref name="tn"/><ref name="bio">{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/natonalcyclopedi0006vari/page/562/mode/2up |title=The National Cyclopaedia of American Biography |volume=XI |publisher=James T. White & Company |year=1909 |page=563 |via=Archive.org |access-date=2026-01-25}}{{Open access}}</ref> He served two terms in the Tennessee House of Representatives, representing Knox County, from 1835 to 1837.<ref name="tn"/><ref name="south"/><ref name="obit">{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/nashville-republican-melancholy-occurren/189805839/ |title=Melancholy Occurrence |date=1837-04-08 |newspaper=Nashville Republican |page=3 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=2026-01-25}}{{Open access}}</ref>
Mabry was a farmer and trader.<ref name="tn"/> He had a farm west of Knoxville.<ref name="south"/> He was brigadier general of the Tennessee state militia.<ref name="bio"/>
==Personal life== Mabry married Alice and had five children, including Joseph Alexander Mabry II. His son Joseph was also a farmer and politician.<ref name="tn"/><ref name="south"/> His son and two grandsons Willie and Joseph Alexander Mabry III also died violent deaths.<ref name="south"/>
==Death== On March 31, 1837, Mabry fired a pistol at Dr. William A. Leland in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He was subsequently stabbed multiple times by Leland with a Bowie knife.<ref name="obit"/><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/north-alabamian-rencoutre-14-apr-1837/189805669/ |title=Rencoutre |date=1837-04-14 |newspaper=Tuscumbia |page=2 |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=2026-01-25}}{{Open access}}</ref><ref name="south"/> He died weeks later on April 19 in Tuscaloosa.<ref name="obit"/>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Tennessee-politician-stub}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mabry, Joseph Alexander}} Category:1796 births Category:1837 deaths Category:People from Westmoreland County, Virginia Category:People from Knox County, Tennessee Category:Members of the Tennessee House of Representatives Category:Farmers from Tennessee Category:American militia generals Category:Deaths by stabbing in Alabama Category:People murdered in 1837 Category:19th-century American farmers Category:19th-century members of the Tennessee General Assembly